A Man Who Never Would
by Oi-Watch-It-Spaceman
Summary: The Human Doctor and Rose have been back in Pete's World for a couple of weeks, and are happy together. But when the Doctor wants to work as a Torchwood consultant with Rose, but won't consent to carry a weapon, Rose puts her foot down. Will the Doctor's disregard for his own safety tear apart the Stuff of Legend? Angst, fluff and romance. Rated T for swearing, rating may go up.
1. Chapter 1

**OK, yay for the Tentoo/Rose fic I have been meaning to write for ages. The idea really came from the fact that the Doctor hates guns, and the way that Rose comes back in Journey's End with a massive gun. I just thought it might be interesting to see how they react when this issue comes up. Enjoy!**

"What, it's not like you'd have to use it! Do you think I ever use _my _gun, unless I really have to? Don't you think I might have put up a fuss when they first tried to make a carry one? The only way they managed to persuade me was when they made me realise that, without you to save the day with a sonic screwdriver and a piece of string, I might not survive dimension travel long enough to find you again. Unless I carried a weapon. So I did. I didn't think you would approve, but you saw – well he—well, you both saw that massive gun I had when I found you again! It didn't seem like such a problem then!"

"I'm sure you're thinking that maybe _he_ wouldn't react like this, that if _he _were here then we'd have sorted this out ages ago, well I'll tell you one thing Rose: I've been nearly a dozen different versions of myself, and every single one of them could spot when you are being an idiot."

"Who are you calling an idiot?!"

Rose had never enjoyed arguing with the Doctor – in fact it was something that she tried to avoid, unless she really needed to stand up to him about something. And this was something was definitely going to stand up to him about.

The Doctor had come with her after they had come back to this universe a couple of weeks ago, seen what was happening at Torchwood and agreed to be a sort of consultant, called in whenever Torchwood needed extra help with something they couldn't solve, much like Rose was. However, Torchwood regulations stated that each member, when going on a dangerous mission, must carry some sort of weapon. Rose had known from the moment the Doctor was told this that there would be issues.

That had been 2 weeks ago, and since then Rose and the Doctor had spent the majority of their time wandering around London – holding hands as always – buying the Doctor clothes and shoes and all sorts of other things, going to eat at Rose's parents' house, introducing the Doctor to Rose's little brother (who adored the Doctor and followed him around like a lost puppy) and enjoying the fact that they were back together again. It had taken Rose a few days to get used to this new man, and for her anger at the original Doctor to fade enough for her to see what he had been trying to do. After a long talk with the Doctor, that lasted well into the night, Rose found herself thinking that this was really quite like regeneration: the Doctor had changed a little (though much less than he had done in his last regeneration) but was still just about exactly the same man, and he still loved her. They could live one life together, with none of the worry that one of them would vastly outlive the other (unless the Doctor kept walking out into busy roads, as he tended to do. Rose often found herself having to grab him and drag him back by his shirt in order to stop him stepping out in front of cars.)

So all had been reasonably well. The Doctor had been sleeping on her sofa, and there had not been any more kissing or anything of that sort yet. Rose wanted to take it slowly, to get used to their situation and having the Doctor in her life again before anything more happened. Which had all been fine, why wouldn't it be? That is, until Torchwood had called and asked them to come in on Monday to look at some alien artefacts. It was Friday night, and they had just finished their pizza whilst watching Toy Story 2 (the Doctor had been overjoyed to find that Toy Story existed in this universe and seemed sort of smug when Rose commented that she wished they would make a third Toy Story film, though she could not work out why.)

This was the point at which Rose had brought up Torchwood, just vaguely talking and wondering about what they were going to have to do on Monday, and telling the Doctor little anecdotes about things she had done in between trying to get the Dimension Cannon to work.

"But anyway, I'm tired – I'm sure no-one else stays up to watch Toy Story until midnight," said Rose, stretching and hoping - not for the first time – that the Doctor would just come to her bed, instead of sleeping on the sofa. It wasn't even as if she just wanted sex from him (not that she hadn't been thinking about it – actually, probably not so much thinking about it as "staring at him and longing in silence",) she really just wanted him near her every night, to reassure her that he wasn't going to disappear. Living for a couple of years without him had shown Rose how much she needed him to be there, how much she missed his laughter and his smile and the sparkle in his eyes as he looked at her.

"Just a minute, Rose," he had said, and Rose had turned, half expecting...she didn't know what she had been expecting, but it certainly wasn't the serious, intense look that she saw on his face. "If I come with you to Torchwood, are they going to try and make me carry a gun?"

Rose shrugged, trying to keep as relaxed as possible – maybe the Doctor wouldn't have as much of a problem when he saw how normal it had become for her. "I guess so. Is that going to be a problem?"

Which had brought them to where they were now. The Doctor's comment about Rose "being an idiot," had cut rather deeper than she cared to admit – it reminded her of another time, arguing with a blue eyed, big-eared Doctor and being called a "stupid ape." She hadn't stood for it then and she wasn't going to stand for it from a skinny, arrogant half-human Doctor either.

"You might be ruder than you've ever been in your superior Timelord lifetime but you are not getting away with calling me an idiot! What is it next, stupid ape? Humans are idiots and why do you bother with us? Guess what: you're stuck here with me, forever, so you can ditch the condescending tone because I am just about to snap!"

"What are you gonna do, point a gun at my forehead?"

"God, you think you're so good, don't you?" Rose spat through gritted teeth, barely able to understand the levels of hatred that she was feeling for this man who she knew that she loved more than anything or anyone in the world. "Not wanting to use guns doesn't make you good and it doesn't make you clever, all it does is make innocent people put themselves in your way when you're in danger." Rose could see the Doctor bristling at this assessment, but she pushed on, determined to make him hear this. "Sometimes, a gun is the only thing between you and the death of everyone you know and love, and I would use one to save your life ten thousand times over. If you think that not using guns is so important that you would risk other people's lives over that fact, then I don't give a crap what you say, you can stay here, 'cause I don't need you endangering lives!"

**There will be more angst in the next few chapters, but there will also be fluff, romance and possibly smut if I can bring myself to actually write it :P Thanks for reading, review if you want, and my tumblr url is donna-and-her-spaceman if you want to follow me :)**


	2. Chapter 2

__**Here's chapter two - bring on the angst!**

_..."If you think that not using guns is so important that you would risk other people's lives over that fact, then I don't give a crap what you say, you can stay here, 'cause I don't need you endangering lives!"_

The Doctor was standing stock still, hands clenched into fists and his face stone. "When I came here with you I had just killed millions of Daleks. And he sent me here with you so that you could make me better. Guess he got that a bit wrong though, it seems I corrupted you first. You're supposed to be helping me, and yet it appears I'm the one who should be stopping you."

"I didn't get like this because of you!" screamed Rose, unable to hold it in any longer, "I got like this because I have been fighting to get back to you for so long, and I have learnt that I will do anything to keep the people I love alive – _anything! _I killed enough Daleks myself to keep you safe before, and I would do it all again. How can you not understand what I'm saying?! I AM NOT LOSING YOU AGAIN JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE BEING AN ARROGANT PRICK WHO THINKS HE CAN GET BY WITHOUT DEFENDING HIMSELF!"

Rose stopped shouting, breathing heavily as though she had just run a couple of miles, and examined the Doctor's face for a reaction. He took a deep breath, and Rose could almost see the thought processes going on in his brain.

"One thing hasn't changed," he said finally, and Rose was relieved to see that his eyes were not dark and angry as they had been a few moments before, "you're still as stubborn as ever."

Rose almost smiled. "I'm still me, Doctor, I've just changed a bit. Like you really."

"That's more true than you think. You actually _have_ changed to be more like me."

"And that's a bad thing?"

The Doctor sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. "No," he finally said, "no I don't think so."

Rose hadn't realised she was holding her breath until she had released it. She knew that what the Doctor thought of her meant a lot to her, and she had tried not to let his comments about her idiocy get to her – after all, she had called him an arrogant prick – but having him approve of the fact that she was a bit more like him relaxed her just a bit.

"Do you understand what I'm saying to you?" Rose was acutely aware of the space between them. They were standing on opposite sides of the room, which just seemed wrong to her. Ever since she had met the Doctor they had been so close, holding hands and hugging and never being really that far away from each other. Standing in this small flat, Rose by the kitchen door and the Doctor next to the TV, a few metres seemed like a chasm. Rose longed to run to the Doctor and hug him, to let him know that she loved him and was not going to leave him no matter what happened. But she just couldn't. She couldn't brush past this, it was far too important to just sweep it under the rug like most other issues that came up where the Doctor was concerned.

The Doctor had taken a few moments to reply, and Rose was suddenly aware of her nails digging into her palms. She unclenched her fists and twisted her hands together, fumbling with her fingers like she used to do when she was a child and she was scared of monsters hiding in her wardrobe. _The Doctor is not a monster,_ she told herself. _Am I a monster?_

"Rose, I know what you're saying to me," said the Doctor slowly – Rose could tell that he was testing each word before he spoke it, making sure that his meaning could not be misunderstood. "I do understand, I do. I just...don't think that I can do it. I can use violence as a last resort, and you know that I would use a gun to save your life in a heartbeat, but I can't just carry one around with me. I can't be that person, I'm sorry."

Rose looked deep into his eyes, and she felt tears spring to her own at the sadness and pain that she saw there. He was trying so desperately to get her to understand that she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. But only a little.

"Well you can't come with me then," Rose said, shocked that the words had come out of her mouth. It was like she had taken the Doctor's words to her, on that first day when he had asked her to come with him, and flipped them, crushing the Doctor in the process. The look of pain that flickered across his face as he struggled to contain his emotions killed her a bit inside. "I don't do much work for Torchwood, they only need me for a few things that they can't handle by themselves, but if you won't even take a weapon, even to defend yourself or as a last resort, then you aren't coming with me. Endangering yourself is not the point of these missions."

"But Rose, you know me." The Doctor gave the smallest of laughs and a flicker of one of his manic grins passed over his face as he spoke – Rose was reminded of him attempting to convince her that he was still him, just after he had regenerated – "you know that I'm not going to be putting myself in danger, I've been doing this for a long time."

Rose had hoped that they could talk about this another time, but she knew that if she just stayed reasonable and could make the Doctor see her point of view then they would be fine. "I know you have, but that doesn't give you the right to do whatever you want now. If we were flying about in the TARDIS and going to other planets then that would be different, but right here and right now I know what I'm talking about."

"Why is it any different here? I still have all that experience; I've done this sort of thing thousands and thousands of times. I've got more experience than everyone in Torchwood put together, I could probably do any of their missions by myself without a single weapon!"

Rose froze, anger bubbling up inside her, temporarily rendered speechless by the arrogance of the Doctor's words. The Doctor himself fell silent, seeming to realise that he had gone too far.

The atmosphere was so thick Rose found it hard to draw breath into her lungs.

"So that's the reason, is it?" Rose was aware she was almost whispering, but in that moment she was battling with her self-restraint – whispering was the only thing she was sure she could do without snapping and throwing something at his arrogant, idiotic head. "You think you're so much better than us that you don't even need a weapon, that you could do what we do alone, one man against whatever the world throws at you and you don't need anyone else to help you."

"Rose, I—"

"Shut up! You do _not _get to defend yourself now! You don't need anyone or anything to help you? Well when I first met you you were just about ready to give up, I could tell. You had no-one left and you needed someone and I was there for you. So if you think you can tell me that you don't need anyone else, then you definitely don't need me."

Rose suddenly felt her legs moving, she was storming towards the door of her bedroom – it would've been their bedroom, Rose was sure of it. The fact that the Doctor had only been in this universe for a couple of weeks meant that they had spent most of their time buying him clothes and sorting out documents, figuring out what his identity would be and introducing him to Torchwood. Rose turned around in the bedroom doorway, staring at the Doctor who was looking like he either about to burst into tears or to flip the sofa out of the window. In that moment Rose didn't care which one he chose to do.

"Goodnight Doctor, unless you don't need me to give you a place to stay any more, in which case you can find your own damn place to live!"

She stepped inside and slammed the door, sliding down it until she was sitting down in a crumpled heap on the floor, the tears and sobs breaking through the damn she had built inside herself and flowing through her body, leaving her gasping for breath.

Rose knew that the Doctor could probably hear her crying – the doors in her flat were not really very thick – but she did not care. She was not hiding the fact that she was upset, she was not going to pretend that what he had said in the heat of the moment hadn't gotten to her.

For the next few minutes Rose was lost in her own thoughts, choking out sobs as she wished they could both just keep their tempers long enough to hear each other out. Her anger began to slowly fade, leaving a dull ache in her head and chest which was part frustration and part sadness. Her sobs had nearly stopped altogether when Rose heard the crash from the next room.

She froze, not knowing what to do: would it be best to just leave the Doctor to his anger and frustration, or to go out there and try and sort this out?

She heard his voice from the other room. "What have you done? Why did you say that?!" Rose heard another, softer thump that she was sure was the sound of a half-human-Timelord body falling to the floor. Rose stood up slowly, still shaking, and placed one hand on the door handle, not sure whether she should go out there or not.

She slowly let go of the handle, then walked slowly backwards until she hit her bed, falling onto it with a groan that had more than half a sob mixed into it. Rose unzipped her jacket and dragged a blanket over herself, letting more tears trickle down her cheeks as she thought of how the void had separated them for so long and yet, now that they were together again with only a wall separating them, she was still lying there alone, crying into her pillow until she drifted off to sleep.

**I am so, so sorry for the amount of angst - normally I just write fluff! Still, in a few chapters there will hopefully be some nice fluffy romancey stuff, so hang on! Unless you love all the angst, in which case I hope you're enjoying all the arguments and crying! **


	3. Chapter 3

**I've got a bit of fluff in this chapter, but in the next chapter things really start to get moving. Anyway, hope you enjoy!**

Rose awakened early in the morning, before the sun had risen. Her hair was stuck to her tearstained cheeks and her head was still pounding, but she still levered herself out of bed, slipping towards the door in her socks and opening it as quietly as she could.

She tiptoed out and into the living room and stopped, taking in the scene in front of her. It appeared that the Doctor had in fact lost control of his emotions and had, as she had thought he would in the middle of their argument, flipped over the sofa and the coffee table. He lay curled up on the floor next to the sofa, still wearing his shirt and suit trousers, one converse boot still on his foot. Rose sighed, taking in the dishevelled hair and the stubble, wondering what on Earth they were going to do. There was still enough residual anger inside her that Rose didn't want to wake him up and try to talk to him, so she side-stepped the over-turned settee and went to the kitchen, returning a few minutes later with a cup of tea. She paused again, marvelling at how the Doctor, who previously had only slept a few hours a week, now slept almost the same amount as the average human.

"Hi." Rose started, nearly dropping her mug of tea. She had been so engrossed in her thoughts that the fact that the Doctor had woken up had completely escaped her attention. He had propped himself up on one elbow, rubbing his eyes and passing a hand through his already impossibly scruffy hair.

"Morning," muttered Rose, not looking the Doctor in the eyes and taking a sip of her tea as she tried to gauge what sort of mood he was in.

"I forgot to change," continued the Doctor, gesturing at his crumpled clothing. He kicked off his one remaining shoe, looking a little embarrassed at the state Rose had found him in. Rose had no time to spare for the Doctor's embarrassment today.

"You can shower first," she said quickly, before turning around and heading back to her room. "I'm going food shopping later, you can come if you want, then we're going to my Mum's for dinner." Rose was aware she was being abrupt, and she didn't enjoy it; the Doctor was the one person she was completely herself with, and acting like this with him just seemed wrong.

"OK," came the Doctor's reply, reaching Rose just before she closed her bedroom door.

That day and the next moved slowly and uncomfortably for them both. The Doctor declined Rose's offer to come food shopping with her, and so Rose pushed the trolley through the aisles of the supermarket alone, throwing tins and packets into the trolley with more force than was necessary. Dinner with her parents was not much better. The Doctor spent a bit of time with Tony, teaching him the best techniques to make his toy cars go dangerously fast, before they all sat down together for dinner. Rose and the Doctor talked to Jackie and Pete without a trace of anger or awkwardness, but they did not say two words to each other, a fact that passed unnoticed, what with Tony being at the stage where throwing food is the most fun that can be had at the dinner table.

They arrived back at the flat later that evening, having had to stay so that the Doctor could read Tony a bedtime story. Rose would normally have found the sight of the Doctor with Tony on his lap, reading "The Cat in the Hat", utterly adorable, but she couldn't bring herself to stand by the door and watch them together, with the memory of the Doctor's words still weighing heavily on her mind, even two days later.

Rose threw her keys down on the table by the door, kicking off her shoes and making herself comfortable. Even though she didn't always have to go into work, only when there was something for her to look at or a mission to go on, the days when Rose had to work were usually long and tiresome and, however she was feeling at that moment, Rose didn't want to being spending up to 14 hours away from the Doctor. And she knew she was going to be spending time away from him, because Rose had decided what she was going to do about the Torchwood situation.

"Doctor," she said, before she could stop herself. The Doctor had just pushed the door closed and had stopped in the motion of removing his suit jacket, arms caught in the sleeves and trapped behind his back. "Doctor, tomorrow, you aren't coming with me to Torchwood. Maybe they can work something out for you eventually, but you can't come at the moment if this is your stance on things, and I know it still is." She had added the last part when she saw the Doctor begin to open his mouth, but she knew he wouldn't shut his gob if she let him start talking. Rose took a breath. "Is that OK?"

The Doctor swallowed, before removing his arms from his jacket and throwing it over the back of a chair. "Yeah, yeah fine," he said, a little hoarsely. Rose could see the sadness in his eyes, and she knew that he wanted to be apart from her just as little as Rose wanted to be apart from him.

That little flicker of pain was all that was needed for Rose to snap, and in an instant she had flung herself at the Doctor, arms around him and face buried in his shirt. "I know we don't agree about this," she said, aware of how her words were being muffled, but still unwilling to prise her face from the Doctor's shoulder, "but I've missed you and I don't like arguing with you."

Rose held her breath for a long moment, then relaxed as the Doctor's long, skinny arms shot around her, pinning her to him.

"I've needed a hug for that past few days," he said good naturedly, though Rose was sure that he was only half joking. "You always give the best hugs, Rose."

"You're not so bad yourself," Rose replied, "for a skinny stick man!"

"Oi, I think you'll find the definition is 'lean but strong'!"

"Oh really, said Rose, grinning and moving one of her hands to his bicep, then his chest and finally his stomach, having to hold in laughter at the sudden look of shock that crossed his features. "Hmm, I guess there are a few muscles under there." The Doctor still looked relatively unnerved at the direction their conversation had taken. Rose knew that the Doctor was enough of a flirt when he wanted to be, but at this moment there was still just enough tension in the air from their previous argument that he was still slightly wary of where their relationship stood. She could tell that he didn't want to risk damaging something as important as them being together by moving too fast, but she couldn't help wanting more.

Rose wrapped her arms around his waist this time, cuddling into his chest and revelling in the feeling of him softly stroking her hair. All of a sudden he pushed her away, hands on her shoulders as he stared into her eyes in absolute seriousness.

"There's something you have to know, Rose," he said calmly, and Rose was slightly on edge as she wondered what he could possibly have to tell her. He took a deep breath and continued. "You have to know...there _will_ be a Toy Story 3."

Rose blinked for a few seconds, before smacking him on the arm and jumping up and down. "I knew it, I knew it!" she shrieked, aware that she was behaving like a six year old, but too excited to care. "What happens? Are they all OK, Woody and Buzz and everyone? Is Zurg in it? Oh god, they don't get replaced do they? Woody said that no-one was getting replaced!"

The Doctor was laughing, and he dragged her over and sat her down on the settee, plonking himself down beside her. "I don't think I should tell you," he said in a sing-song voice, and Rose snatched up a cushion, smacking him around the head with it.

"Talk!" she yelled, kneeling up on the sofa and hitting him again, "talk or die, Time Lord, I haven't got time for this. What happens to Buzz and Woody!?"

The next morning Rose woke early, dragging on her clothes and heading out into the kitchen. The Doctor had made her a cup of tea, and she drank it gratefully, still too tired to converse properly with him, but hoping that she conveyed how happy she was that he was there with her at the kitchen table.

She said goodbye, hugging the Doctor tightly before walking out of the door, hoping that worry and pain she had seen on his face had just been her imagination as she shut the door behind her.

**Woop, TOY STORY! I think that's enough said for now.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the next chapter. Bit of angst, bit of fluff, bit of the Doctor cooking - what could go wrong?**

The Doctor spent that day and the next one systematically taking apart the toaster, the microwave and the kettle and improving them, as well as taking exploratory walks around London, noting all the subtle differences that reminded him that this universe was different than the one that he had lived his whole life in, up to this point. Last night Rose had come home late, exhausted but apparently happy, and the Doctor had been more pleased than he liked to admit when she had fallen asleep on him as they watched a film (it was 'Ratatouille' tonight, and the Doctor had been having a hard time not crying.) He had looked down to see Rose looking so peaceful, eyes closed and breathing deeply, that he stayed with her lying on him, arm wrapped around her and her head resting on his chest, long after the credits of the film had wound to a close. After all, he was sleeping on the settee anyway; it wasn't his fault if she had chosen to join him.

On the next evening the Doctor had decided that he was going to cook, and so he rolled up his sleeves and had a lot of fun chucking dough around the kitchen before finally managing to make what he considered a pretty fine pizza, which he popped in the oven with glee. Looking down at himself he saw that his jeans (a new pair bought on his second day in this universe, and that were fast becoming his favourite because of the effect they had on Rose) and his pale blue shirt were covered in flour. He sighed, wiping his forehead and rolling his eyes as he imagined the smudge of flour he had left there. He was just heading into the bathroom to clean himself up when he heard the front door open and close and span around, eager to greet Rose despite his dishevelled appearance.

Rose looked tired, but not happy tired like she had yesterday. The Doctor searched her face, seeing exhaustion and pain as her two main emotions, and immediately rushed towards her, not exactly sure what he needed to do, but positive that he had to make it better. Before he had even reached her, Rose had held up her hands, forcing him to stop. However, he didn't miss the wince that went with the gesture and, Time Lord brain working furiously, he suspected that she had an injury on her upper right arm, though he did not yet know the extent of the damage.

"I'm fine, Doctor," Rose said, though all she managed to do was convince him that she was lying through her teeth. "Stupid humans – oh god, I sound like you – they tried to intercept some alien weapons that were being brought in. I managed to knock out a couple of them but another one got me on the arm. It's not a deep cut, I'll be alright." Rose seemed like her normal self, joking with a tired smile on her face, but all the Doctor wanted to do was really make sure she was OK. He was certain that her insistence that she was perfectly fine against all evidence to the contrary was something that she had picked up from him.

"Do you want me to take a look?" he asked, and Rose shook her head, almost angrily.

"No, no I'm OK, I don't need help!"

The Doctor threw his hands up in surrender, stepping back. "It's fine, Rose, I'm not trying to...to...overprotect you or something, I just wanted to see. I am a Doctor after all," he added, hoping that he could put a smile on her face with that old joke. Luckily for him, Rose let a smile cross her lips, and the Doctor breathed out, glad that he had avoided another argument. He decided to get dinner ready and ask her to look at it again later, hoping that she wouldn't think he was being overbearing (a small part of him was shouting that he _was_ being overprotective, and that he wanted to keep Rose with him always and stop her coming to any harm, but he ignored it. Even if it was sort of true.)

Rose just smiled, kicking off her shoes. "Have you been cooking?" she asked, swiping a finger across his forehead and down his nose, and then showing him the flour that she had collected. The Doctor grinned sheepishly, scrubbing his face with the back of his hand.

"Indeed I have," he replied.

"Kitchen still standing?"

"Oi!" The Doctor flicked her on the arm, prompting Rose to poke him and start a violent poking fight that was only stopped by the beeping of the kitchen timer, causing the Doctor to run off into the kitchen like a lightning bolt – no pizzas were going to burn on _his _watch.

Half an hour later they had finished their pizza (Rose had showed surprise at the Doctor's cooking skills, and he had looked smug until the moment when she had leaned in and brushed some flour off of his shirt, when he suddenly became very still, trying to fight the urge to kiss her) and were sitting on the sofa together. Rose shifted, shrugging off her jacket, and the Doctor took a look at her arm. It was just as she had said, the sleeve of her top torn off to reveal a long cut, not deep enough to need stitches but painful nonetheless.

Rose caught him looking, and smiled as she chucked her jacket onto the table. "I don't have to go in tomorrow, so we can do whatever we like. They said they'll call when something else comes up, then I can go back in."

"I'll come with you," the Doctor blurted out, sure that the look of shock on her face was mirrored on his own. "Please, I'll do whatever; I'd just feel better if I was there."

"Doctor," said Rose, turning to him and speaking slowly, making sure he understood every word, "you do realise that, even if you come with me, you aren't going to be able to throw yourself in front of me and keep me from harm. This sort of stuff doesn't matter, it comes with the job."

"Well it shouldn't," grumbled the Doctor, earning himself a glare from Rose.

"It's not like I never got hurt when I was travelling with you! I was in and out of the infirmary like a yo-yo, and don't you dare say that you were there to protect me, because it just so happens that there are other people at Torchwood who are there to watch my back, and I would not be going in there if I wasn't sure I would come home again! So if you want to come with me, even though I suspect you still have the same issues with it that you did a couple of days ago, it should be because you want to work _with_ me, that you want the adventure and the excitement and the aliens and the running and everything, not because you're worried about losing me because, to be honest, I am just as worried about losing you again and yet I am managing get on with it!"

There was a hideously long pause, in which the Doctor became aware that his mouth was hanging open slightly. He shut it with a snap, trying to choose one of the thoughts that were whirring around his head to be the one he shared with Rose. He picked the one at the front of his mind and went with that. "You're still worried about losing me?"

Rose smiled and reached over to hold his hand. "Of course I am. After what happened last time, and now we're here and you're part human and we've only got one life, of course I'm worried about us being ripped apart again. But I'm actually dealing with it. You, on the other hand, are panicking over every scratch and feeling guilty about everything, as always." The Doctor looked down at his hands, suddenly seeing things from Rose's point of view. "So we can sort out your problems with guns and whatever, and get you a job and go on adventures and live our life together, but for the right reasons, not because you're an idiot."

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a little guilty and a lot stupid. "I guess I've been acting like a..."

"Like a human?" Rose suggested.

"I was gonna go with 'selfish prat', but that works too."

Rose laughed, and the sound filled the Doctor with relief. He supposed it was the human part of him, but he had never before been this open about what he was feeling, and it was actually quite scary to let Rose know exactly what he was thinking. He knew he had to, though. The only way that he and Rose had managed to get through the fact that he wasn't the original Doctor was to be completely honest with each other, and he was finding being honest about his feelings to be emotionally draining. He yawned, stretching his long arms and elbowing Rose in the process.

"Careful, you'll have my eye out!"

"Sorry, it's a sad side-effect of having such wonderfully toned elbows."

Rose sniffed. "Scrawny, more like."

"Oh come on!" He waggled his eyebrows enticingly at her. "Are you saying you don't find my elbows attractive?"

She considered for a moment, tilting her head to one side. "They're alright, they're not the most attractive thing about you."

The Doctor felt his eyebrows shoot up his forehead. "And what is?" he asked.

**Next chapter will have fluff and possible smut, depending on whether I can bring myself to write it - I really am awful at writing smut.**


	5. Chapter 5

**OK, bit of smut here but not much, implied mostly :P I don't write much smut, I am getting better but until I am fluent, implied is all you're getting - enjoy :D**

Rose hesitated, not sure if she wanted to get into this. It only took a second for her to decide that she definitely did. She allowed her eyes to wander over him, enjoying the slightly wary look on his face as she did so.

"Well," she said slowly, drawing out the words, "I suppose I've always loved your hair." The Doctor grinned, dragging a hand through his thick brown hair before Rose reached up to do the same. She loved the feeling of it, so thick and so soft, and was amused when the Doctor unconsciously leaned into her hand, apparently approving of this action. "But then there's your eyes, and the freckles and everything."

"I do not have freckles!" The Doctor jerked his head away from Rose's hand, staring at her indignantly.

"Oh yes you do," laughed Rose, "I used to count them sometimes when I was bored, they're so cute."

"Time Lords aren't cute," said the Doctor.

"Well you certainly are. Cute, pretty face, nice bum."

It took the Doctor's head snapping towards her for Rose to really think about what she had just said. She may love the Doctor, and had told him so and flirted with him for years, but the fact was that their relationship was still very much up in the air at the moment. Despite the fact that the Doctor did have a nice bum (Rose was especially fond of it in his new jeans) she wasn't sure how he would react to her telling him so. It had only been a couple of weeks, he might need a bit more time.

All thoughts of the Doctor needing "a bit more time" went out the window as Rose saw the Doctor's expression. It was that mix of smugness and arrogance that she knew so well, but with an added layer of intensity that she had rarely seen on his face. He leaned forward, close enough that Rose could count the freckles on his face again, if she had been so inclined. Not that there was any way she could think about that at the moment. The Doctor was so close to her, his leg pressing against her and his arm, previously slung over the back of the sofa, delicately stroking the nape of her neck, sending shivers down her spine.

Rose suddenly felt a bit nervous, a bizarre feeling at a time when she was sure that she and the Doctor were finally heading somewhere that she had wanted them to go for a long time. Since that kiss on the beach they had simply been as they always were and. however much Rose loved that, there was a part of her (as there had always been when Rose was with the Doctor) that yearned for them to take that next step. The idea that the Doctor was here with her now, forever, had filled her with happiness once she had understood the gift that the original Doctor had given them. Now, in this moment with the Doctor, she felt decidedly uncertain as to how tonight would pan out. _You're overthinking it, _she told herself, _you've wanted to do this for just about as long as you've know him, so just get on with it._

In the time it took Rose to have this argument with herself, the Doctor had begun to play with her hair. "So," he said, voice low and smooth and utterly irresistible, "I take it you find my bum attractive enough." Rose nodded.

"Oh yeah, one of the best I've seen. Of course, you had that habit of flinging your leg up on the TARDIS console while you were driving, so I always got a good look at it then. That's probably why I was never any good at helping you fly the TARDIS," she mused.

The Doctor gave her a look of mock-surprise, all the time moving closer. "I know," he murmured, eyes flicking down to her lips and back up, capturing her eyes in a gaze that stopped her being able to think, "I noticed you looking one time, so I thought I'd throw you a bone every now and then."

Rose's eyes widened in shock and mild outrage. "You knew? And you never said? Stop grinning you smug—"

Whatever insult Rose had been about to hurl at him was cut off when the Doctor closed the last bit of distance between them, his lips meeting hers and causing her brain to short circuit. It was beautiful, slow and long, yet intense and passionate, the Doctor pouring everything that he was feeling into the kiss, and Rose responding almost embarrassingly enthusiastically. The Doctor's hand was on the back of her neck, keeping her there as though he was scared she might disappear at any moment, while his other arm curled firmly around her waist. Rose just had enough residual brain power left to circle her arms around his neck before she became lost in a world of emotions and feelings and passion. The Doctor smelled wonderful, just as he always had, and Rose had to appreciate the work his tongue was doing inside her mouth, intertwining with her own tongue and exploring very thoroughly. She had always known that his oral fixation would one day benefit her in some way.

Their bodies began to tangle, her hands locked in his hair, legs twining together and his arms roaming freely down her back, over her waist and hips, down to her bum and back again. If she could have picked, Rose would probably not have chosen the sofa for their first encounter of this kind, but in that moment their chosen place was the last thing in her thoughts. The Doctor very nimbly whipped her top off over her head, managing to simultaneously keep her injured arm from harm, and at the same time take thorough advantage of the amount of her skin that was now on display.

Rose, not one to let the Doctor ogle her without getting something in return, quickly unbuttoned his shirt, tossing it to the floor and letting her eyes rove over his chest. It was better than she had imagined which, considering the amount of time she had spent imagining taking off the Doctor's clothes, was really say something.

Her hands moved to the button on his trousers, just as he had the same idea about hers. After a bit of tugging and some cursing in Gallifreyan on the Doctor's part, they were both in their underwear, basking in the feeling of happiness and desire that was building with every passing second. The Doctor's kisses were getting more intense and urgent and so, to put him in his place, Rose quickly flipped them over, her straddling the Doctor as she leaned down and kissed him, feeling her toes curl and her body shiver at the feeling of desire that was beginning to build inside her.

Just when Rose was considering the best way to remove the Doctor's boxers (TARDIS blue, she noted to her amusement,) she suddenly stopped, remembering something that she really should have thought about earlier (how many times had it been drilled into her by her mum?) She jumped up, leaving a bemused Doctor lying on the sofa.

"What?" he almost shouted, clearly cross at being suddenly brought back to reality in the middle of a moment which shouldn't really have been interrupted.

Rose laughed at his expression. "Protection," she giggled, staring at his body for a moment before trailing a hand down his chest. "I've got some in my room. You can wait here if you like." She let her hand travel down further, squeezing him in just the right place to make him moan and close his eyes as she merrily skipped away towards her room , turning back and looking at him with an innocent expression as he narrowed his eyes, a smile spreading across his face.

"Oi, get back here," he growled, chasing after her into the bedroom, catching her around the waist and dragging her onto the bed with him. They were both laughing now, the Doctor quickly slipping off her bra in one smooth movement, something that caused Rose to be ever so slightly impressed.

"Where did you learn to do that?" she asked, turned to him as he pressed kisses across her collarbone. He looked up at her face and grinned, eyes full of desire and happiness and mischief. "Oh Rose Tyler, I've been around for a while – 900 years in fact. I think I've learnt a few things about dancing."

Afterwards, when they were lying together, Rose counting the freckles on the Doctor's nose and him playing with her hair again, she wondered whether he would ever be able to tell her he loved her again, without there being some sort of imminent crisis on hand. She had told him several times and, although he hadn't actually been the most coherent person in the world that evening, he had still not returned the words that she longed to hear from him. It might not be the optimum time to talk about it, but if even during sex he couldn't let go and say it, then he must still be repressing most of his emotions, despite being more human than ever before.

She sighed a little, cuddling closer to him and relishing the way his arms wrapped around her. Half-human or not, he was still the stupid Time Lord who couldn't say the damn words to her. After all this time, it still boiled down to the Doctor being rubbish with feelings. Drifting off into a contented sleep, Rose's last thoughts were that she hoped she remembered this feeling in the morning, because she wasn't putting up with being held at arm's length any longer. Not that what they had just done could be considered to be "arm's length," but she knew what she meant.

**Haha, a bit more fluff in the next chapter, then some angst before the ending. Not sure how many chapters there will be yet, but I'm enjoying this story so I hope there's a few. Thanks for the reviews, it means so much :D again, my tumlr url is donna-and-her-spaceman, in case you want to follow my strange, Doctor Who themed ramblings.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for sticking with me, I apologise for the semi-smut in the last chapter, I did warn you how bad I was at it. Still, on with the fluff!**

Rose awoke the next morning, wondering why her pillow felt so wonderfully warm and smelled so good. In a second the last night came rushing back to her, and she looked up to find a peacefully sleeping Doctor, strands of brown hair falling over his closed eyes, arms curled around her still and his legs twisted with hers in such a way that Rose wondered whether they could ever untangle them. Really, she wondered whether she wanted to.

She watched his face as he shifted in his sleep. The Doctor rarely ever looked so calm, and Rose found herself looking forward to waking up to this sight every day for the rest of her life. This feeling stunned her for a moment, and she quickly probed the rest of her feelings to see whether it was simply a post-sex high that was causing her to be so soppy. It wasn't. She knew what she wanted, and it was forever with the Doctor, however long that was. The problem now was talking to him about it. She winced inwardly, stroking a hand down the side of his face, lingering on the sideburns that she held a special fondness for. Talking to the Doctor about this, however much she needed to, was not going to be easy or pleasant. 900 years of emotional repression was not easy to undo, but it wasn't just that. More than anything, Rose just wanted the Doctor to admit his feelings for her without being coaxed. Being told it without having to drag it out of the Doctor would be the best present he could ever give her. Unfortunately he was usually either oblivious or awkward: not a combination she would've chosen.

The Doctor stirred, eyes flickering open and resting on Rose's face. "Hi," he grinned, hair in disarray and eyes sparkling, and Rose suddenly felt that she didn't care in the slightest whether the Doctor never talked to her about his feelings ever again, just as long as she was greeted like that every morning.

"Doctor?" Rose called through the flat after getting off the phone with her mum.

"Just a sec!"

Rose poured hot water into her mug, watching the teabag float and hearing the sound of the Doctor singing loudly floating into the kitchen. He was in the shower at the moment, and over the sound of the spray Rose could just make out his voice, happy and enthusiastic as it always was.

_Since my baby left me_

_Well I found a new place to dwell_

_It's down at the end of Lonely Street_

_In Heartbreak Hotel_

_I've been so lonely baby_

_I've been so lonely_

_I've been so lonely I could die_

Rose stifled a laugh at the Doctor's Elvis impression, adding milk to her tea and flopping down on the sofa. She wondered what film they would watch this evening, surveying the swiftly growing pile of Disney DVDs that were accumulating next to the TV. The Doctor loved them and, in the time she had spent travelling with the Doctor, Rose had missed a few of the newer ones. She was just lamenting the fact that they hadn't yet got 'Monsters Inc.' when she heard the bathroom door open and looked around.

The Doctor wandered into the room, chest bare and hair damp. Rose allowed her eyes to wander for a moment before blinking a couple of times and focusing on the task at hand. She was supposed to be telling him something. Yes, her mum had phoned and now there was something she needed to tell the Doctor. He grinned a little awkwardly and Rose struggled to hold onto her train of thought.

"Rose? You said you had to tell me something," he said, putting his hands in his pyjama pockets as he spoke (he had insisted his pyjamas had pockets, declaring that he would make some himself if they couldn't find a pair that had them. Luckily they had managed to find a stripy pair that fit the bill, presumably so that the Doctor could put his hands in them and cock his head to one side, considering her, just as he was now.)

"Yeah, yeah I did." Rose took a sip of her tea before replying, relishing the way that the hot liquid scalded her mouth – it seemed to bring her back to her senses a bit. "Mum and Dad are going out of town for a business thing, but they didn't want to take Tony with them so Mum's bringing him 'round here."

The Doctor looked genuinely pleased for a split second – Rose knew how much he enjoyed looking after Tony – before looking dismayed. "Oh god, she's not going to try and talk to me again is she? Her being nice is almost as scary as when she's angry!" His eyes suddenly widened, feet fidgeting on the floor and a hand flying to his still damp hair. "What if she finds out we've...you know." He gestured between the two of them frantically.

Rose smirked. "Doctor, I don't think either of us is planning on telling her. And besides, she probably thinks we've been doing that the whole time." The Doctor looked indignant, opening his mouth to protest. "Oh come off it, you're the biggest flirt I've ever met, how was she to know that deep down you're a gentleman." He smiled at this. "Or a coward," Rose continued.

In a moment the Doctor had flung himself over the back of the settee, bouncing on the cushion next to Rose and making her grateful that she had put down her tea a few seconds earlier.

"What was that fo—" she began, but before she could finish the Doctor was kissing her, and in a moment her hands were on his bare chest, his arms snaking around her waist. Rose moved even closer to him, hands drifting to his hair and controlling the kiss, at the same time making sure she was pressed tightly against his body, enjoying the feel of his chest through her t-shirt. Just as Rose was certain that they wouldn't be moving from the sofa to her bedroom for this round, the doorbell rang. The Doctor groaned into her mouth and she grinned, pulling away until his arms stopped her.

"Either you let me go right now or my mum will come barging in here, and believe me, if you let her catch us like this then I will be telling her _exactly _what we were about to do." The Doctor sighed but released her, holding up his arms in surrender.

"Fine then, but we _will_ be continuing this later."

"I look forward to it," Rose grinned, and the Doctor scampered off to put on some clothes as Rose got up to open the door.

By the time the Doctor came back in, dressed in blue suit trousers and shirt, feet bare and wiggling on the floorboards, Rose was holding 3 year old Tony in her arms. She was asking him what he had brought with him to play with – she had the bag of toys and things that her mum had shoved at her (she had been running very late, barely saying a word before practically throwing Tony at Rose and running off down the stairs) but Tony was holding a book in his arms, clutching it to his chest like it was his favourite thing in the world.

"Doctor!" he suddenly yelled, catching sight of him walking in the room and straining away from Rose.

The Doctor smiled warmly, moving quickly across the room to scoop Tony from Rose's grasp. "Hey Tony, what you got there?"

Tony smiled as though he had a big secret to tell, before looking around at Rose. Rose grinned and turned away. "I won't look, you can show him."

She waited a moment before sneaking a peek over her shoulder. Tony had held the book out to the Doctor, one little hand pointing at the title and telling the Doctor the words. "It says 'The Cat in the Hat Comes Back'! Did you know he came back, Doctor?"

Rose felt her heart swell as she saw the Doctor's look of feigned surprise. "Well, I think we'd better show this to Rose, don't you? I'm sure she'll want to hear all about it!"

Tony considered this for a moment before nodding firmly. Rose quickly turned away to hide the fact that she had been looking, and the Doctor walked 'round until he and Tony were in front of Rose. "Tony has something to show you," the Doctor said, and Tony smiled, holding the book out to her.

"We should read it now," he said simply, and Rose and the Doctor laughed. In a few moments they were settled on the sofa with Tony in between them, taking it in turns to read. Rose ruffled Tony's hair, observing the way that he looked at the Doctor and thinking about how that was probably how she had looked at him when they first met. No wonder he had such a big ego, if everyone he met gazed at him like he was the entire universe.

**More fluff next chapter! I am loving writing happy stuff again, but there will definitely be more angst before the end. Thankyou for your reviews, keep 'em coming! (If you want to, of course, I don't want you to feel like I'm trying to force you into it. Do what you want!)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yay, more fluff! It's really my favourite thing to write, as fun as it is to write angst I prefer to write sweet little happy things. Although, most of my angsty things end up happy in the end anyway, so it's all good really. Anyway, I'm babbling.**

"On your marks, get set...GO!"

Rose walked into the kitchen to see the Doctor sitting at the kitchen table, with Tony sitting on the table opposite him. It wasn't so much the fact that Tony was rather precariously perched on the tabletop that made Rose raise her eyebrows in combined amusement and exasperation, as the fact that they appeared to be having a competition to see who could eat a banana the fastest.

"Doctor, is that exactly sensible?"

Both the Doctor and Tony turned to her in one movement, hands and faces frozen in the act of attempting to ingest what Rose deemed to be too much banana at once.

"Bu' 'ose," the Doctor struggled to force out the words, "'anana's a' goo'!"

"As good as they may be, I will not have you choking my brother and yourself." Rose sighed. "You're more of a child than he is most of the time."

Tony swallowed the last of his banana and laughed, pointing a chubby finger at the Doctor in delight. "You're like me! How old are you Doctor, three or four?"

Rose smirked, glad that her brother was also taking the Doctor down a peg or two – it was those Tyler genes, she was certain of it. The Doctor, for his part, simply swallowed his mouthful of banana and prodded Tony in the chest with one finger. "Oi, none of that, or do you want me to take the Cat in the Hat and chuck him out of the window?"

Tony drummed his sticky fists on the table and thought about that for a moment before saying confidently: "you can't throw it out of the window."

"Oh, can't I?" asked the Doctor, raising one eyebrow evilly. Rose loved the way he treated Tony like an adult – she could see how much Tony adored being with the Doctor, simply because he and the Doctor were equals rather than an adult and a child. There was no being patronising or condescending where the Doctor was concerned.

"No you can't."

The Doctor moved forward until he was face to face with Tony, narrowing his eyes. "And why not, Tony Tyler?"

"Because you love the Cat in the Hat and you would be sad if you threw him away." Tony smiled at the Doctor almost smugly, and Rose stifled a snort of laughter at his next comment. "Also, Rose would get you." He looked over at her with a pleading expression in his brown eyes and Rose's heart melted. "Wouldn't you, Rose?"

"You bet I would," agreed Rose, glaring at the Doctor. "Don't you dare think about throwing it out the window, or you'll be dealing with me!"

Tony turned to the Doctor, and there was no doubt this time that his expression was definitely smug. "So there," he said, before sticking out his tongue. Rose was aware that her mum was trying to stop Tony from doing that, but the fact was that she was loving every moment of this exchange and would not interrupt it to scold Tony for something that she did a lot, especially where the Doctor was concerned.

The Doctor's eyes flickered between Rose and Tony, and he sighed, slumping back in his chair. "OK, I give in. You and your bodyguard," he gestured towards Rose who was standing with a hand on her hip, an eyebrow raised, "have defeated me. Victory banana?" He plucked a yellow fruit off of the bunch on the table and proffered it to Tony.

"No thanks," Tony declared, batting the fruit away, "if I eat too many of those I might be like you!"

Rose laughed very loudly at this, taking in the Doctor's insulted yet undeniably amused expression with delight before plucking Tony from the kitchen table and whirling him around, not minding the sticky, banana covered hands that clutched around her neck. Tony was still giggling, but his giggles quickly made way for a yawn and Rose thought it was probably time for his nap. About time too, he and the Doctor had been causing havoc for most of the day, not even a child who had eaten an unhealthy amount of bananas could have enough energy to keep going for much longer.

Rose quickly picked up a cloth and wiped Tony's sticky hands and face, watching fondly as his eyelids began to droop. He snuggled close to her, burying his face in her neck and beginning to breathe deeply. It often astounded Rose how he could go from manic excitement to complete calm in a matter of seconds. Not unlike someone else she knew.

The Doctor himself had cleaned up the remnants of squished banana and banana skin from the table and was watching Rose gently holding Tony in her arms. As Rose looked up at the Doctor, she caught an unfamiliar expression flicker across his face, but it was gone before she could pinpoint exactly what it was. Suddenly feeling awkward with no idea why, she mouthed to the Doctor that she was going to put Tony down to sleep and took him over to the corner of the lounge, lying him down in the small cot that her mum had brought over once before when Rose had babysat and never taken home. She smiled at Tony's sleeping face, pulling a blanket over him and walking away, flopping down on the sofa.

She let her head fall back and closed her eyes, enjoying the peace and quiet that was only broken by the slow breathing of the toddler asleep in the corner. She felt the sofa cushion move beside her but didn't open her eyes. Rose could feel the Doctor next to her, the heat and presence of his body as tangible to her as though she were actually touching him.

"So," the Doctor said, and Rose was suddenly aware that the awkwardness she had felt in the kitchen was still there, bubbling underneath the Doctor's skin, evident in the tension she could feel rolling off his body in waves.

Rose waited for the rest of the Doctor's sentence. It didn't come.

"Doctor," she replied without opening her eyes, "the idea of you starting a sentence and not finishing it is, quite frankly, slightly unnerving. Normally you'd have finished about 7 sentences in the time it's taken you to say one word, so I'm suggesting you actually spit out what you want to say pronto, before I have to beat it out of you." Her tone was relaxed, with a bit of the dry wit that Rose was sure she had absorbed from the Doctor's previous regeneration.

She had expected to at least feel the Doctor laughing next to her, even if she didn't hear him, but from what she could feel he had not moved a muscle, and Rose felt tension knot in her stomach at the thought of the Doctor being silent and unmoving. That never meant things were going well.

Rose opened one eye, squinting sideways at the Doctor. He was looking at his hands, twining his long fingers together. Something in the action made Rose ache somewhere inside – she felt like it should be _her _hand that was joined with his, the idea that he had no-one's hand to hold but his own seemed fundamentally wrong. Rose reached out to try and hold one of his hands, but froze when she felt him move away from her touch.

She yanked back her hand as if it had been scorched, staring at the Doctor with wide open eyes that she was certain showed all the shock and hurt that she was feeling. Whatever was wrong with the Doctor, Rose would never have thought that he would feel bad enough to deliberately refuse to hold her hand.

"Tell me," she blurted out before her brain could catch up with her mouth, "tell me right now."

"What?"

"Don't be stupid. Tell me what the hell is wrong with you right this second, or I swear I will grab a frying pan and whack you on the head with it until you do."

The right side of the Doctor's mouth curled into a half smile at this. "Needless violence, Rose, you know I don't like it."

"It's not needless." Rose could feel her hands beginning to tremble, anger and confusion and hurt stopping her from thinking straight. "If anyone needed a bit of violence to stop them being a prat it's you, so either tell me or I will hit you. Hard."

**Get ready for the angst, I've nearly finished the next chapter so it should be up tomorrow, that is, if I manage to get any sleep. Please enjoy and review if the urge takes you - allons-y!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Angsty angsty angst. Love the arguing :P**

Rose scrutinised the Doctor's face, recognising the expression that he normally wore when he was going to try and wriggle out of something. He was rubbing the back of his neck in a gesture that Rose normally found endearing, though right now her insides were seething with so much frustration that she had to fight the urge to smack his hand and stop him from doing it. He had to be one of the most infuriating men in the universe. Sure enough, he tried his normal avoidance tactics, and Rose nearly found herself banging her head on the wall.

"I'm not sure what I'm feeling now, Rose, can we please do this another time?"

"Nope. There is obviously something really wrong."

The Doctor wouldn't look her in the eye. "Really, there isn't."

"No, you can't do this to me, not again," Rose said, trying to get rid of the pleading note that was creeping into her voice. "You can't shut me out, not now! We're here together, for the rest of our lives, you've got to be honest with me!"

"I'm trying Rose, I am, but I didn't force you to stay here with me! If you choose to be with me then you have to accept that it's going to be hard!"

"I don't have a choice!" Rose stopped and counted to five before continuing at a lower volume, trying to remember that Tony was asleep in the same room to stop herself from completely losing it. "You know perfectly well that I do not have a choice here, and neither do you. I love you, and there is no way that I can ever leave you. Don't you see? _That's _what's so infuriating! I know I'll never leave you, I just can't, which means that the only chance we've got is if we work through it and actually talk to each other!"

The Doctor sighed, breathing deeply through his nose and closing his eyes. Rose wasn't sure whether she was going to see anger or sorrow when he opened them again and, to be honest, she was a little scared of finding out.

"I'm not sure if I can do it, Rose," he finally murmured, and Rose felt as though she'd been punched in the stomach. In fact, she felt as if she was still being punched in the stomach, repeatedly. She knew she was staring at the Doctor blindly, could feel him staring right back, and yet it all felt strangely distant, as if she was seeing it all through a sheet of glass. She was desperately trying to make herself look at this objectively, because if she focused on the implications of what the Doctor had just admitted to her she might break down there and then.

It was no use. This man, this man she had loved for so long, who she had travelled with and fought for and been willing to die for, who she sometimes wanted to strangle and always wanted to kiss, the man who she would never leave because they were meant to be together, had told her that he might not be able to do this. He might not be able to grow old with her. Rose's whole future shattered like glass in front of her. Not that her life wouldn't carry on without him. She would still work at Torchwood, going on missions and having adventures and enjoying her work, she would spend time with her mum and dad, watch Tony grow up, have fun with friends and family, she would read books and watch films and meet people. Her life would not end. But somehow knowing this did not make Rose feel any better, because the idea of living a life without the Doctor, not growing old with him and living with him and seeing him every day, made tears spring to her eyes and ice shoot through her veins.

It had only taken about ten seconds for Rose's to brain to shoot through all of these thoughts and arrive at this heartbreaking conclusion – the shock and seriousness of the situation seemed to make her brain fire at top speed.

Rose didn't really know how to put any of what she had thought into words, so she decided just to start slowly. "Do what, exactly?" she said slowly, hearing a sharp edge in her words and wondering whether the Doctor could detect it too.

Apparently he couldn't.

"You know what," he said, leaning on the back of the sofa and giving her one of those looks that said 'come on, Rose, use your brain.' Rose scowled - she wasn't stupid and she wasn't going to have the Doctor treat her like it. She stood up and took a few steps forward, turning around to face him as he sat on the sofa.

"Well, obviously I don't, so why don't you just fill me in." Rose was hugging herself, arms wrapped around her middle, fists clutching handfuls of her top in an attempt to keep her calm. "You say you don't think you can do it. Well firstly I'd like to know what 'it' is, and secondly I want you to tell me what the hell you're going to do if it turns out you _can't _do whatever it is that you don't think you can do."

Rose watched the Doctor's brow furrow for a split second, taking a sort of bitter satisfaction in the fact that she had managed to confuse him, even if only for a moment. He sprung up and turned to face her as though he couldn't stand to sit down any longer, and Rose was acutely aware of the fact that they were standing in almost exactly the same positions that they had been in when arguing the other day. That argument seemed like years ago. So much had happened since then, the only difference now was that Rose was the one standing in the corner, and the Doctor was the one who was next to the door.

The Doctor jolted Rose out of her thoughts by finally giving her his answer. "I don't think I can be as open as you want me to. I'm finding it hard enough to adapt to being here, never mind baring my emotions more than I ever have in my life. There's so much stuff happening! There's Torchwood and you and me arguing, you and me living together and... and _being together_ and what to do in the future and all that stuff. I can't change who I am overnight!"

"I'm not expecting you to know everything that you want to do in the future, or to change who you are, but right now we're sort of stuck in limbo, neither here nor there and I can't deal with it much longer."

"Rose, why can't we just stay as we are? This is fine—"

"No it isn't!" Rose couldn't stop herself from shouting, only distantly aware of the fact that Tony hadn't been woken up by it. "It isn't fine, Doctor, I don't want to be like this, we spent years dancing around the edges of this one and now we've been thrown in the middle and it appears you can't hack it. Sometimes it's like you really want this, you seem ready enough to accept _certain parts_ of this relationship that we haven't explored before, and yet whenever anything goes wrong you shut me out! If you can't deal with this then maybe you should go!"

Rose stopped. She could almost see the tension in the air, it seemed as if they were stuck in that moment between the moment someone drops a glass and the moment that it shatters on the kitchen floor. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to pretend that she hadn't just said it, but she couldn't hold off the smash of the glass forever.

The Doctor looked confused and outraged and hurt and angry at the same time, arms hanging by his side, fists clenched. "You can't really mean that," he whispered, though his voice sounded too loud in the silent room.

"I do," said Rose, still not quite understanding what she was doing.

The Doctor gave her one last look with dark, pain-filled eyes before spinning around, snatching up his jacket and storming out of the door, slamming it behind him. Rose flinched at the sound as though the door had hit her as it crashed shut.

Somewhere behind her, Tony woke up and started to cry.

**Awww, I hate making them argue. Luckily, at some point there will hopefully be a happy ending - if I broke them up I would never ever forgive myself :) Thanks for the reviews, keep 'em coming!**


	9. Chapter 9

**This is one of those chapters that is sort of reflective and sad, the calm before the storm that will be the big finale! Maybe not that big of a finale, but a finale nonetheless. Anyway, have a slightly angsty sad chapter.**

Rose shut the door after her mum and leaned against it. She had managed to quieten Tony down, and had just about kept up a charade of being normal and happy in the few moments that she saw her mum. Luckily for Rose, having a 3 year old son and being extremely tired can cause a person not to be too observant when it comes to their 23 year old daughter.

She stayed with her forehead pressed against the cold wood of the door, trying not to let in the thoughts that she was just about managing to keep at bay. She wasn't successful. _Why did you do that? _she asked herself furiously, beginning to pace around the room in a way that reminded her of the Doctor, which made her feel even worse. _What sort of stupid thing to do was that?! _

But he had been being so infuriating! Rose couldn't just let him never talk to her about anything, they couldn't live like that, it would be ridiculous.

"Stupid idiot!" Rose muttered, kicking the sofa hard and wondering whether she was referring to herself or the Doctor. She slumped down on the sofa and rubbed her bruised toes. She felt almost numb, as though everything that had happened had been happening to someone else. It was a strange sensation.

It was hours of confused, whirling thoughts and staring out of the window at the slowly darkening sky before Rose finally moved, standing up and stretching out her aching muscles. She was so tired, despite the fact that she hadn't really done that much today. Rose walked slowly into her room, kicking off her shoes and taking satisfaction in the way that they slammed into the wall. She dragged off her clothes and climbed into bed.

She did not sleep.

The Doctor did not appear again the next day. Or the day after. Rose could not think where he could be. He had some money, she knew, but where would he go? Surely he wouldn't have just cleared off forever? Rose wished she hadn't even entertained that idea – images of the Doctor setting off for some distant country, to explore and live and adventure alone for the rest of his one life filled her head.

She didn't dare to call her mum and ask whether the Doctor had been 'round. The last thing she wanted was for her mum to stick her nose into this. It was between Rose and the Doctor, and they had to sort it out on their own.

On the second day without the Doctor, Rose had to go into Torchwood. The entire day seemed flat, uninteresting. She looked at alien artefacts and checked mysterious signals and answered questions from co-workers but there was no meaning behind any of it. Not knowing where he could be was worse than anything else.

On the third day without the Doctor, Rose saw an advert for the upcoming "Toy Story 3." She remembered their conversation of a few days ago, begging the Doctor to tell her what happened to Woody and Buzz. She cried herself to sleep that night.

Two more days passed and Rose went through phases of anger, grief and hope by turns. She tried to sort out her feelings about what had happened – her feelings for the Doctor – but she couldn't keep her mind straight from one hour to the next, constantly changing her mind and doubting herself and grabbing handfuls of her hair in frustration, something which she knew the Doctor did and found herself getting very angry about.

On the evening of the fifth day she was sitting on the kitchen side, staring at the handle on the opposite cupboard as though it had wronged her in some way. She wanted the Doctor back her. It wasn't the cupboard's fault, she supposed. Rose had had to admit that it was only hers and the Doctor's fault that they had ended up in this situation. She sighed, rubbing her hands over her face, trying to clear her head.

When the Doctor came back (she tried not to think 'if' but it buzzed around her brain anyway) they would have to continue talking. She wasn't going to budge on the "needing to talk to each other thing" but she knew now that shouting about it was not going to help. They needed – somewhat ironically – to _talk _about it. Rose knew now she would do whatever she could to make this easier for the Doctor – she understood how hard this was for him. She would listen to him and give him time, but he had to agree that this was the right thing. Rose was not going to accept a different answer from him. If he wanted them to spend their lives together (and she was almost 100% sure that he did) then he was going to have to compromise on this, as well as the Torchwood thing – Rose still wasn't done arguing about _that_ yet.

She jumped down from the side and went to sit down on the sofa, happy that the haze of anger and sadness had calmed down, that she could think clearly about what they were going to do. Five days seemed too long to spend in a temper, but she had been very angry, and she had always been stubborn. Rose was just thinking that she now had the task of trying to find the Doctor in order to sort things out with him, something that could prove to be very difficult, when she suddenly became aware that she could hear footsteps coming upstairs, heading towards their flat.

She stood up, hoping and praying that it was the Doctor. She had sorted out her feelings now, she was finally ready to see him, to work this through. She found herself itching to hug him, almost able to feel his body against hers as she stood there. She heard the footsteps approaching the door. She was nervous, her palms were sweating and she could feel herself beginning to tremble slightly. No time like the present for apologies and understandings and reunions. Rose held her breath as the Doctor approached the door.

The Doctor was fed up. He hated staying in a hotel. He hated that he had had to buy new clothes, but none of them were as nice as the ones he had picked out with Rose. He hated the feeling of loneliness that came with not being able to talk to Rose. He hated not being able to go into Torchwood, or go and see Jackie, Pete and Tony. The Doctor didn't usually like to hate things, but right now he hated everything, and the thing he hated the most was the thought that he might never patch this up with Rose. He had been stuck inside his own head for days, thinking and sorting and trying to understand what he wanted.

It was only in the last few hours that he had finally figured it out. He loved Rose. He needed Rose and he wanted Rose and he loved her more than anything. He wanted to spend his life with her. He wanted to tell her his thoughts and let her help him when he was angry or upset and to help her in return. He wanted her to know all his thoughts and feelings, to know him inside out and know her the same way. He didn't want to hide himself from her any longer. It wouldn't be easy, but that was what he wanted.

The only problem was that he wasn't sure if he could fix it after five days of being AWOL. He knew that when Rose had said he had to go if he couldn't talk to her that she had been angry and not thinking straight, but if he had been any sort of sensible human being he would have talked to her there and then. That's what comes from being a half-human Time Lord – the emotional repression of a Time Lord coupled with the hot-headed anger of a human. What a brilliant combination.

Within minutes of working out what he wanted, he was on his way back to the flat. It was about 8 o'clock in the evening, the sun had almost finished setting and the Doctor rubbed his hands together to ward off the evening chill as he walked the hundred yards from the bus stop to their building. He tapped in the code and quickly climbed the stairs, bounding down the corridor before suddenly screeching to a halt just in front of their door. If he had been in a cartoon there would have been the squealing of brakes as he struggled to stop, staring wide eyed at the door. It was ajar, which would have been suspicious enough even if there hadn't been dents and splinters around the lock, as though someone had been kicking it in order to get in.

The Doctor suddenly felt movement rush back to his frozen limbs. Without a second thought he shoved the door open and hurtled inside, scared to think of what he might find.

**Hee hee, cliffhanger - of sorts. Don't worry, I will hopefully post tomorrow, you will not have long to wait :P Thanks for the reviews!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Yay, cliffhanger resolution!, It's not exciting or great, but I like it - also Rose gets to kick some guy's ass, which is awesome. **

The Doctor stopped just inside the doorway, taking in the scene before him. Rose was standing on the other side of the sofa looking shaken, holding her phone in her hand. Somewhere in the back of his mind he made note of the bags under her eyes, the obvious tiredness that came from not sleeping. He recognised the signs because he had been greeted with them when he had looked in the mirror that morning.

The Doctor's eyes travelled around the room looking at the overturned coffee table, the broken plates and mugs on the floor, and the unconscious man who was lying near the kitchen doorway, hands bound behind his back with a length of wire. He felt his eyes open wide as he tried to figure out what had happened, facts and figures flickering in his mind so fast that he wasn't even aware he was moving until he had vaulted the sofa, pulling Rose into one of their trademark hugs.

A part of him felt the satisfaction of knowing that there hadn't even been a second of hesitation before Rose had wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her face into his shoulder. He breathed in her smell, smiling even as he worried whether or not she was OK. She wasn't crying, she wasn't even shaking, so whatever had happened couldn't have been that bad, could it?

Rose pulled away for a second, looking into his face with a smile that dazzled him with it's pure happiness. "The police are on their way," she said matter-of-factly, gesturing with one arm to the unconscious man, "aren't you gonna ask what I've been up to while you've been...gone."

He didn't miss the break in her voice, promising that he would sort it all out between them just as soon as they were out of this particular mess (they did seem to get in a lot of messes, even without trying to.) "Well, it seemed like someone tried to break in."

"They did. I thought they were you at first, but they stopped outside the door and didn't come in, and I knew you would've used your key. He started kicking the door – I hadn't bolted it or anything yet, I was just about to – and then he was inside and he saw me – I'm not sure if he knew there was anyone here – so he ran and tried to grab me so I kicked him then I punched him and smacked his head on the doorframe." Rose looked over at the man, nose wrinkling in disgust. "He looks alive, I couldn't really be bothered to check. Tied him up so he wouldn't be any trouble if he woke up."

The Doctor was stunned for a few seconds. "Scared?" he asked.

"A bit." Rose bit her lip. "It wasn't like I haven't done this sort of thing before, but he was in our flat, our home! That was what scared me." The Doctor felt himself grin at the way she had called it their "home" and Rose returned his grin as she always did. He still had his arms around her, unwilling to let go even after he was sure that everything was OK. They head feet on the stairs and suddenly the police were there, knocking at the half open door and taking charge and the door let go of Rose, letting one hand trail down her arm to join with her hand. She squeezed his hand tightly, and the Doctor was sure that everything was going to be OK.

It was a while later before they could finally relax. Rose's statement had been taken, as well as a few of the other people in the block of flats. Apparently someone had been going into one of the two flats downstairs, and so the thief, who had managed to get the code for the outside door from somewhere, had carried on up the stairs. Their flat had been the first one he had come to. It was just bad luck.

They still had one working lock and bolt on their door, so the Doctor and Rose felt perfectly safe to be in the flat without fixing the other lock. The Doctor probably could have done it in a minute or so, but Rose suspected he had more on his mind than a broken lock. The police left after congratulating Rose on her handling of the situation. She smiled and thanked them, hand firmly holding the Doctor's. She didn't let go, even when she went to close and lock the door. That made it slightly more complicated, but she was not willing to let go just yet, and they both ended up giggling together, before shuffling back over to the sofa and flopping down side by side.

"You came back," Rose said, looking at him and noticing how tired he was looking. She was probably not looking too good herself.

"Yep." The Doctor winced, and it took Rose a moment to realise that he expected her to slap him. She sighed.

"Doctor, I am not going to slap you because this was both of our faults and you know that. I am, however, a bit cross that I had no idea where you were, and so for that I will not be celebrating your return by kissing you."

She smirked internally, managing to keep her face still as she watched the emotions flicker across his face one at a time: first relief then guilt followed by disbelief and confusion.

"Oi," he spluttered, "that's not fair!"

Rose shrugged. "Should've thought of that before you didn't pick up the phone to let me know that you were alive and not off gallivanting on the other side of the world or something." She was aware that he was the one smirking now. "What!? You like to wander off and adventure, how was I to know you wouldn't want to go and do that instead of coming back here?"

The Doctor's expression became soft and sincere, his eyes showing a tiny hint of pain as he cupped her cheek. "I was always coming back, Rose," he said, "even if it did take me five days to work through the repressed feelings and anger to get to the important stuff. I was never going to leave you. Forever, yeah?"

Rose nodded, feeling a lump form in her throat and hoping that he didn't need an answer from her, because all she would probably be able to do was sob at him. She hadn't realised until now how real the thought of him never coming back had been. Seeing him there in front of her, smiling and solid and stubborn and completely stupid made her feel so happy that she was sure her face must be glowing. She swallowed her tears, giving herself a few moments before placing her hand over the Doctor's, holding his hand to her cheek.

"I've done a lot of thinking too. I've decided that I will do whatever it takes to help you with this living like a human thing. I will give you time, and space – no pun intended," (the Doctor chuckled at this) "and I will never give up on you, no matter how bull-headed and annoying and unresponsive you are." The Doctor tried to look insulted, but he ended smiling anyway.

"Well," he replied, managing to look serious and happy and sexy all at the same time (how did he do that? Was it a Time Lord thing?) "I was just going to tell you that I realised that the most important thing was us. I mean, of course I knew that already, but I hadn't thought about the fact that I was really putting myself first – you know, me and the fact that I didn't want to share my feelings with you. Sorry about that by the way." Rose waved her hand impatiently, letting him know that she didn't care anymore about what he had said in the heat of the moment – what _they _had said, she reminded herself. She had hardly been angelic and understanding about the whole situation.

"The point that I'm trying – and most probably failing – to make is that I am going to try, Rose. I really am."

"Well good," Rose said, allowing a slow smile to spread across her face, riding on a feeling of warmth that seemed to be flowing through her body, waves spreading from her chest all the way down to her fingers and toes. "Oh, and I presume you will deign to admit that I can defend myself now." She cocked her head on one side and scrutinised his face.

"Hey, I never said you couldn't!"

"But you admit that, without training in self defence so that I could protect myself and the people I care about, I might not have been so lucky tonight?"

She did not miss the pain in the Doctor's eyes as he considered this. "Yes," he said slowly.

Rose felt like she was trying to explain to a sulky child why they had to put their shoes on before going outside in the rain. It all seemed so obvious to her, and yet the Doctor had such strong feelings about this sort of stuff that it was sometimes hard for him to see what she meant. Still, she soldiered on, letting her knowledge that she was right push her onwards. "And you admit that, had you been here, you would not have been able to talk your way out of the situation – that, in fact, I was probably safer and better prepared to defend myself than you would have been if you had been the one in the flat tonight."

The Doctor nodded.

"Right, well as long as you agree that this is something you were wrong about, and that being able to defend yourself is a good idea, then I'm sure we can work something out with Torchwood, OK?" She saw the Doctor hesitate and continued, anxious to get her point across. "You're not going to have to do anything that is against anything you believe, Doctor. You're just going to have to make sure you are prepared if circumstances get beyond your control. I, for one, know that you can talk the eye stalk off a Dalek, but that might not work every time."

Rose watched the Doctor's face nervously, but relaxed as she saw his eyes begin to sparkle again, the ghost of a smile beginning to make itself known on his lips.

"Oh alright. Rose Tyler, you were right about defending yourself, I was wrong to think it wasn't important, and I will try and work something out with you and Torchwood. There. Would you like it in writing? Or if you like I could go get a video camera and we could record the whole thing for posterity, would that be better?"

Rose elbowed him in the side and he elbowed her back. They were sitting very close now, Rose could feel the Doctor's body through her t-shirt. She turned her head to look at him, and found that he was already studying her. Well, two could play at that game.

She allowed her eyes to flicker over his face, taking in all she had missed – the freckles he claimed he didn't have, the eyes, the bottom lip that she had a particular fondness for. Rose realised that the Doctor was probably doing the same to her, cataloguing her features. Their faces were slowly drawing together, so they were only a couple of inches apart when Rose began to speak.

"I think," she said slowly, raising a hand and placing a thoughtful finger on her chin, "I need...a shower!"

She leapt up and jumped over the back of the sofa, startling the Doctor into almost falling off of it. Rose giggled with glee and sprinted off towards the bathroom, leaving a confused and probably disgruntled Doctor to wait for her. She knew he would.

**OK, next chapter is what I do best - proper fluff. Also maybe smut, which I do NOT do best, but which I feel follows fluff very appropriately. The next chapter will probably be the last, though there might be an epilogue...**


	11. Chapter 11

**So sorry this one is so late, computer problems + internet problems = no luck with posting. Still, this one has fluff and dancing and a little bit of smut, and there will be an epilogue afterwards that should not take as long for me to post. The lyrics are from "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You" and "If I Fell", and I also mention "I've Just Seen A Face", all by the Beatles, and they belong to them, not me. If you've never listened to the songs then you should give them a try, the Beatles rule and these songs are good ones. Hope you enjoy it, review if you like!**

Rose hopped quickly into the shower, knowing that afterwards they could continue any talking (or anything else for that matter) that needed to be done. She was suddenly not feeling tired any longer, perfectly ready to stay up all night if needs be.

She quickly pulled on pyjama trousers and a vest top once she had finished the speediest shower she had ever taken, only having enough patience to blow dry her hair until it wasn't dripping. She grabbed a towel as she wandered back through the flat, seeing the Doctor fiddling about with the CD player on the windowsill.

The Doctor grinned, pressing play on the CD player and looking mighty pleased with himself. "Would've got an iPod or something, but what can I say? I'm an old fashioned sort of half-human Time Lord – CDs are fine for me! Love a CD." He was babbling again, and Rose couldn't put into words how ecstatic she was to hear the sound of his voice floating through the flat once more.

She was still standing calmly by the door, rubbing her damp hair with a towel when the music started. It appeared to be a CD of the Doctor's favourite songs by The Beatles (though she didn't know how he could've narrowed it down enough to put on one CD, when she had asked him before he had ended up listing about 30 different songs before giving up.) The first song was "I've Just Seen A Face" and Rose smiled fondly as she watched the Doctor singing along as he sat down on the sofa, treading the fine line between nonchalance and nervousness that she had only seen a couple of times before, and that she found so completely endearing.

Rose kept on drying her hair, feeling quite content to stand and say nothing. Having another presence in the room after 5 days of being alone was so comforting that she couldn't bring herself to feel anything but happy. Once her hair was just about dry she quickly laid the towel out over the radiator. The Doctor was facing away from her now, tapping his converse clad feet in time to the music. The song ended and the next one started – "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You." Rose grinned, suddenly having a brilliant idea.

She walked round in front of him and offered him her hand. The Doctor looked at it for a moment as though he wasn't sure what exactly it was supposed to be.

"Come on," Rose said, remembering a time long ago where she had ended up in this same situation, "show me your moves."

The Doctor grinned leaping up in a flash and grabbing both of Rose's hands. They had moved the broken coffee table over to the side of the room when the police were there, hoping to get a replacement one soon, which left a perfect amount of space for dancing. It was almost too convenient. Rose looked at the Doctor shrewdly, wondering if he had planned this, but she couldn't see any of the smugness he usually displayed when one of his plans came together, so she had to conclude that it was just luck.

They danced wildly, Rose giggling and the Doctor laughing as he twirled and spun her around to the music. He bumped into the sofa at one point and hopped on one leg, cursing as he rubbed his bruised foot. This led to a few moments of crazy hopping dancing which stopped when they nearly ended up in a tangled heap of arms and legs on the floor. The Doctor sang along as they danced, voice breathless and full of happiness.

_In this world there's nothing I would rather do  
I've discovered I'm in love with you,  
'Cause I'm happy just to dance with you _

They span around one more time before both flopping down onto the sofa in unison, tired out and giggling hysterically. They acted like four year olds most of the time; Rose was astonished they actually managed to do normal things like shopping without starting food fights in the supermarket.

They lay on the sofa, Rose lifting up her legs and resting across it, which was all well and good until the Doctor decided to tickle her feet.

"Oi!" she shouted, jerking her foot away from him. "I swear, if you do that again I will not be responsible for my actions, I may very well break your nose."

He looked her in the eyes, and very deliberately trailed one finger over the sole of her foot, ducking as said foot came swinging up towards his face. The Doctor over-balanced and fell to the floor with a thud and a shout of pain. Rose grinned sweetly at him.

"Told you so."

She stood up and offered him her hands, yanking him up from the ground so that he ended up standing very close to her, too close to be casual and friendly. The Doctor took Rose's left hand in his, sliding his other hand around her waist and in a moment they were slow dancing. Rose had always known that dancing was a brilliant opportunity for flirting, but seriously, this was ridiculous – he should not be able to make her feel like this by doing barely anything. She slid her hand onto his shoulder and gulped, hoping he didn't realise how much she was enjoying being this close to him. They swayed to the music, slowly twirling on the spot, the Doctor yet again murmuring the words of the song in her ear as she rested her head on his shoulder.

_If I fell in love with you  
Would you promise to be true  
And help me understand  
'Cause I've been in love before  
And I found that love was more  
Than just holding hands_

Rose smiled into his shoulder at the appropriateness of this lyric, squeezing the Doctor's hand tighter and knowing without looking that he was smiling too. She could feel his breath on her cheek, suddenly too aware of every point of contact between their bodies. Why did she feel like this? They had been close before, they had slept together not too long ago for god's sake! Everything felt new, like she had never experienced it before. She supposed it could be because, this time, she was sure of what they both wanted – they were both sure that this was what they wanted. She was still thinking about this when the Doctor's hand dropped her own and carefully tilted her chin so that she was looking right at him. He grinned, almost cockily, and Rose briefly contemplated knocking him down a peg or two before he kissed her and all rational thought seemed to leave her mind in a flash.

Rose's other hand came up to the Doctor's shoulder, before making its way over the back of his neck and tangling into his hair. She smiled as she kissed him – it was better than she had remembered it – and he took the opportunity to gently slide his tongue into her mouth, hands gripping her waist with an intensity that had been hidden up until now. Rose, not to be outdone where intensity was concerned, quickly turned the kiss up to eleven, being almost violent in her movements until she sensed that they both needed to breathe. She slowly disengaged her mouth from his, standing in front of him for a moment before pushing him gently. He fell back onto the sofa without the slightest resistance.

Rose had to control a smirk at the Doctor's face, slightly dazed and confused, hair in crazy disarray as he looked up at her. She enjoyed the moments when he was completely out of his depth – they came so rarely, even now as he attempted to live a human life, so she cherished every one.

"That was good," he said, sounding as though he had recently been hit over the head with something heavy.

"Oh, you have no idea," Rose grinned, taking her chance before he fully regained control of his senses and just about jumping on him, knocking him backwards until he was lying on the couch, her lying on him and very much enjoying the way that her body was his so closely. He was kissing her now, hand on the back of her neck so she couldn't pull away, though the idea that she would ever want to stop what was going on between her and the Doctor at this moment seemed ludicrous to her, particularly since her hands were undoing the buttons on his shirt of their own accord.

Soon the shirt was on the floor, closely followed by Rose's t-shirt and then Rose herself, who had pulled the Doctor towards her so fiercely in order to continue kissing him that she had over balanced them both. Now the Doctor was the one who was lying on her, using his arms just enough so that he wasn't squashing her, but still pressing against her in a way that made Rose wish she could somehow vanish the rest of their clothes in double quick time.

"We seem to make a habit of this," the Doctor said, raising an eyebrow at her, his face so close that his nose was nearly brushing her own.

"I assume you mean falling off the sofa," Rose replied dryly, trying to stop her heart from beating as fast as it was, "because this-" she kissed him, using her tongue in such a way as to make him moan, grinning as she pulled away and caught sight of his hungry expression, "-is something we do not do _nearly _as often as we should."

"I agree," he said, looking hungrily into her eyes, "and this time we are not moving from here, I don't care if the bed would be more comfortable."

"Wow, sex on the floor, you're such a romantic, Doctor."

The Doctor looked down at Rose with amusement and disbelief in his face. "Oh OK then, I can be romantic if you want, it'll probably take a little while but I'm certain you can wait." As he spoke he moved against her and Rose felt a twinge inside her that made her buck her hips violently against his without even being aware of it.

"OK, OK," she gasped, "here is good. I'm sure it'll be great...as long as it's with you." She raised an eyebrow and smothered a giggle. Of all the times to be having an insults match, this wasn't one she would've imagined.

The Doctor, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying teasing her in this compromising position. Teasing being the operative word – she knew all those years fiddling around with the TARDIS with his fingers would come in handy some day. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Rose Tyler, and sarcastic flattery is even less welcome."

It was a bit crazy, if Rose was honest, trousers being wrestled off and hot skin and the wood floor cold against her back. And she absolutely loved it. So much better than the last time, and it wasn't like that time had been awful or anything. In fact, before tonight, Rose would not have thought that sex could get better than it had on her last night with the Doctor. Never had she been happier to be wrong.

Afterwards, the Doctor had all but collapsed on her chest, holding his own weight so he wouldn't crush her. He was panting, she could feel his breath even more clearly now it was blowing across her sweat dampened skin. For a few minutes they just caught their breath, not bothering to talk or even move for their embrace. Finally Rose remembered where they were.

"As much as I like spending time with you, Doctor, are we really going to lie here all night? Wouldn't it be more comfortable to sleep in our own bed?" Rose thought nothing of saying "our bed," it seemed right.

She saw the Doctor's eyes light up, mischievous and excited and ecstatic. "Oh Rose," he said, "who on Earth said we're going to be _sleeping_?"

It occurred to Rose, when she awoke late the next morning and was still half asleep that, with their relationship having now reached this point, they might not make it out the house for a few days. Still, it wasn't like she minded.

She took him to Torchwood with her the next day, and she, the Doctor and Pete had a long discussion about the way in which they could work with the Doctor without him completely abandoning all his rules. (The 'no sex with companions' rule was apparently out the window, though without the TARDIS Rose wasn't sure she could be classed as a companion. Not that it mattered either way, companion or not there was no turning back at this point.)

It took a while – the Doctor liked to talk, Rose knew that already – but eventually they came with a compromise that meant that the Doctor only had to carry something that had the capacity to stun, not to kill, and that he could use his own judgement as to whether or not it needed to be used in a situation. Rose had a lot of respect for Pete for not simply letting the Doctor do as he liked. Not that he exactly put his foot down about it, but he certainly didn't let the Doctor walk all over him. Not that the Doctor let this faze him in the slightest. Rose could sense that their future assignments were suddenly going to have a lot more talking and negotiating than previously, but she liked that. The Doctor tended to make people better – hence his name – and Rose thought that Torchwood would benefit from having the Doctor around.

_She_ certainly had. Though Rose thought that it was more likely that _she_ had made _him _better, as she had always intended to do. She supposed they helped each other, making each other laugh and going on adventures and just loving being together, Rose Tyler and the Doctor, the Stuff of Legend.

How times changed.

**Well, only the epilogue to go! It will only be short, but it will be cute and fluffy - you should know by now that I love cute fluffy things more than most things in the world. My tumblr url is donna-and-her-spaceman, just in case you wanted to know :P**


	12. Epilogue

**Well this is it. The end. I'm actually quite sad, I really loved this one (although I always feel this way about a fic, I can never bear to let them go once I've written them.) Thanks for sticking with this one until the end. **

Two months later, if you happened to be in the right place, at the right time, you might see a man and a woman walking into a cinema. The man wanted to go to this specific cinema because the popcorn was better, despite it being ten minutes further away from their flat, and the woman though not quite understanding why this mattered quite so much, agreed. They were the Doctor and Rose Tyler, doing something normal for a change.

They were sitting in their seats, two rows from the back, surrounded by families and couples and groups of teenagers. Rose was bouncing up and down in her seat, barely able to contain her excitement, the Doctor holding her hand and grinning like a Halloween pumpkin, occasionally passing a hand through his scruffy brown hair.

"Doctor?" Rose leaned over and whispered to him as the adverts began to roll and the lights dimmed. "Is it good?"

The Doctor turned to her, kissing her quickly before saying without a trace of irony, "it is absolutely fantastic. Seriously, the best film ever. Well, almost."

They settled in for the film, Rose occasionally pinching some popcorn from the bag on the Doctor's lap, before he managed to scoff the lot.

The adverts finished, the Disney symbol appeared on the screen, and Rose grabbed the Doctor's hand. "Here we go then – Toy Story 3," she whispered, and the Doctor grinned before chucking a couple of pieces of popcorn at her head.

"Bet you five quid you cry."

"No way," she muttered, "I know I will, bet you five quid _you _will!"

The Doctor looked at her like she was crazy. "I'll be lucky to make it through the first scene without blubbing! Anyway, shut it or you'll miss it."

Rose had tears streaming down her cheeks, barely able to hold back sobs as she watched the final moments of the movie play out. She felt the Doctor's hand clasp her own, and looked over to see his eyes sparkling with unshed tears. Apparently having seen this film before didn't make it any easier to watch, a fact which Rose would have to remember when they got it on DVD.

"Well?"

"It was brilliant," Rose said, trying to compose herself as the credits scrolled down the screen. "It was just...just..."

The Doctor gave her a big grin, grabbing her hand and pulling her up before giving her an enormous hug, lifting her right off the ground. "Sad?"

Rose nodded.

"But sort of happy at the same time, 'cause they still get to start a new life. Together."

Rose rolled her eyes at this, smiling despite herself. "Fine then, it's happy _and _sad. Now let's go home." They walked out through the cinema until they passed through the doors that led outside. The Doctor stood blinking in the bright sunlight, but Rose did not seem fazed in the slightest.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her as they walked down the steps. "Why so eager?"

Rose stopped abruptly, turning around and walking back towards him slowly. She watched him gulp, trying to read the expression in her eyes, and was pleased that she could control the laughter that was bubbling up inside her. She stopped just before their bodies touched, less than an inch of space between them, leaned close until their lips were almost touching. Once she was sure that the Doctor was certain she was going to kiss him, Rose whispered to him, just letting her breath ghost over his lips.

"Well," she murmured, "now we've watched that film, I think that we should..." Rose gave a lengthy pause before just about shouting "go and watch the first one again!" She shoved him in the chest until he almost fell backwards and sprinted across the car park, glad that she had worn trainers. The Doctor took a couple of seconds to recover, before his expression became determined.

"Oi!" he yelled, chasing after her with a glint in his eye, his laughter mingling with hers as they ran off towards the setting sun.

Rose thought absently as she ran that it would've been quite a lovely touching moment, them running off into the sunset together. That is, if it weren't for the fact that the sunset was stopping her from being able to see where she was going.

**Thanks for all your reviews and everything, will be post a new AU at some point during the next week, look out for it! **


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